A powdered indigo dye developed at Aikuma Senryo (originally a Chinese herbal apothecary founded in Tokyo circa 1818), Yamato Indigo makes it easy to dye apparel, accessories and other fabrics at home. This kit includes enough of each individual component to concoct a large vat of dye in order to lend a vibrant hue to shirts, pants and even sneakers. Specifically, that means 50 grams …
For thousands and thousands of years a purple-blue ink known as folium was used to color all kinds of books, cheese rinds and more, but its formula was lost until a team of researchers recently deciphered the recipe through three ancient texts. It’s long been confirmed that the dye comes from the fruit of chrozophora tinctoria, but this isn’t a complete assessment. By poring over the …
From MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory comes a product that could calm the nerves of fickle consumers. PhotoChromeleon is a high-tech ink that changes color through “reprogramming.” This means exposing the ink to UV light to activate or deactivate some of its components, which include “a scientific mix of cyan, magenta, and yellow photochromic dyes,” according to Fast Company. The sprayable ink can …
